Life Goes On
by Somethingaboutsteelguarding
Summary: Something unexpected happens to Serah that will change the rest of her life. A baby. Takes place post XIII
1. Prologue

Serah guessed Light would need some time to think it over but what she hadn't expected was a full minute of silence. The only sound in the room was the abnormally loud ticking of the clock mounted on the wall above where Lightning sat. She found herself glancing up at it more than once, unable to look into her sister's eyes.

The tension in the room wasn't able to be cut with the thickest blade and it only made Serah feel more uneasy. The tears on her cheeks were beginning to dry as her nearly hysterical crying had calmed down, but she felt another onslaught building up inside her as the seconds ticked by.

"Please say something" Sarah's voice was slightly hoarse and she absentmindedly wiped her nose on the back of her hand, personal hygiene not being her main concern at this point. "Claire" She added, her tone timid and gentle.

Lightnings brain seemed to be working like gears grinding in an endless circle of confusion. She didn't feel she was able to voice her thoughts in a logical manner, however composure was something she found easy to grasp. Deciding she wasn't going to shout or take the news with any hint of violence was a mental promise she made to herself, knowing that it would in no way help the situation. Searching for the right words however, she was at a loss.

Another minute passed and Serah felt her lower lip began to tremble. It seemed like all she did these days was cry. But then again, what else could she do? Her hormones would be all out of whack for the next eight months or so, enough time for the cluster of cells in her tummy to grow into a fully developed baby. Another way to put it, she had the nine month bug.

"You couldn't wait till after the wedding could you?" Lightning's head snapped up. Her voice held no hostility, only confusion. She sought out the answers to many questions and deciding to start here seemed for the best.

"Claire…." Serah felt her voice crack as the urge to cry started making its self very present. She held it down, knowing it wouldn't help. "It's not like I planned it to be like this"

"I told you a million times Serah. If you have sexual intercourse, no matter what precautions you take, there is a chance of becoming pregnant" Lightning stated bluntly.

Serah held back the urge to giggle. It was funny how her mood could so suddenly change. The way her sister phrased it made her sound like an absolute prude. Then again, Serah never knew Lightning to take things lightly. Even if it made for a funny pun.

"I know. I mean I understand. I messed up Claire. But…" Since Lightning was having a hard time voicing her opinion about all this she decided to go on with hers first. "Even if it was a mistake I still love this baby and nothing is going to change how I feel about that. This thing inside me is a product of myself and Snow and when you think about it, that's pretty amazing. A life the two of us made. Just think about it, she's going to have a personality of her own- she or he that is." Her hands immediately went to her stomach, which seemed flat as ever, showing no sign of said baby just yet.

"I understand, Serah" Light gave a small nod, the corners of her mouth turning up slightly at her sisters miniature speech. It sent a wave of unfamiliar emotion through her and although foreign it wasn't exactly unpleasant. Ever since the crystallization of Cocoon Light finally felt at peace with everything. Though she was having a hard time adjusting to a life on Gran Pulse. She was a Lieutenant working for the slowly budding government, one with a decent leader this time. Mostly stationed at different civilizations for extended periods of time she was home on leave, the reason being her sisters urgent page.

"There is one more thing I want to ask you though" Serah started, her expression more peaceful after seeing Lightning wasn't reaction in a hostile way. Yet. Lightning still had yet to see Snow.

"There's not more than one in there is there?" Light raised an eyebrow at her sisters abdomen.

"Etro no!" Serah's eyes widened. "At least I don't think. The doctor said one and I'm trusting her on that" She wasn't used to Light joking around so openly, it was as if all the tension was gone. "I was wondering if Snow and I could possibly move in with you" She gulped and continued. "Mostly because where we are now- The NORA house, it's not the best place for a baby and you know that.

"But Serah, you know I get stationed in a variety of different locations, why don't you and Snow just purchase a house of your own? Or have one built?" Light was baffled at her request.

"I want to be a family again Claire. You, me, Snow and the baby. Ever since mom and dad…. I've always wanted a close family and I can tell deep down you do as well" Serah insisted, looking into her sisters lapis eyes.

"You want me to request to be stationed here? In New Bodhum, don't you?" She was beginning to understand what her younger sister wanted, and at this point she wasn't sure how to feel. All this was being dumped on her at once and she felt herself beginning to retract backwards into herself. Feelings were getting harder to understand.

"I understand it's a lot to ask. I wouldn't be upset if you said no" Serah had to keep her emotions in check at this point or it would only be worse.

"I'd have to think about it" Light broke eye contact with her and focused on a spot in the wall behind Serah. She wanted some time to process all this.

"Alright" Serah knew she couldn't push it any further at this point. She turned to leave when Light spoke again.

"Tell Snow I need to have a talk with him. A very long talk" Light's voice broke composure and she nearly snarled when she said his name. Maybe Serah was free from her anger but Snow surely wasn't.


	2. Video Games

**A/N Wow! I can't believe people actually like this! Sorry it's been so long since I updated and sorry that this update is so short. I'll try and make them more frequent and longer if you guys would like!**

* * *

"I can't believe we're going to lose to these kids again!" Snow exclaimed, mashing the buttons on his Gamebox 500's controller rapidly. Around one of the corners in the beautifully graphic designed city that was nearly in ruins, out popped one of the players on the opposite team, quickly aiming and shooting Snow's avatar multiple times in the face with a large gun.

"I know! It's completely unfair" Hope's voice could be heard through Snow's large headset. "They're probably even younger than me and they keep beating us over and over!"

the screen of Snow's large TV flashed red over and over and the words You Have Died just seemed to rub Hope's words in. "It's not like I get to sit around and play games all day like these little bastards do" He paused, reaching for a handful of chips and shoving them in his mouth before continuing. "I have a job to do"

"I guess that seems fair enough. Maybe if we take some time during the weekend to practice we can get 'em?" The 14-year-old suggested then frowned "I thought you said you'd share the chips!" Hope quickly removed his headset and scrambled over to the couch Snow was on. Ironically it was right across the room from where he was playing on a separate TV.

Lebreau decided to walk in at that moment and roll her eyes. "I still don't understand why you guys need to use two TV's to play the same game"

"I don't like split screen" Snow tilted his head backward to look at Lebreau upside down. "Did Serah come by yet?"

Hope was glad for Snow being distracted as he took the opportunity to grab the chips and scamper back over to the other couch happily. As luck had it, school was out for an undetermined amount of time while they were being built and planned. It gave Hope the chance to do what he wanted for a while and at the moment it seemed video games were his priority.

Though Lightning didn't agree one bit with how the teenager was spending his time, it was the main reason Hope hid at the NORA house to play his games. Sometimes Snow was a jerk and took the system for himself, playing sports games or horror games (Which Hope didn't really enjoy) But times when Snow shared was great and the two of them seemed to get along for the most part now.

"She called your phone" Lebreau took the opportunity to toss it to him. Snow wasn't prepared so the phone landed on the cushion beside him harmlessly. "Maybe if you stopped leaving it around and actually kept it on you then you'd be able to answer it" She chided him.

Snow unlocked his phone and checked his messages. "What did she say?" He noticed he had two new texts. One was from Sazh talking about some business and the other was from an unknown number.

"She wants you to come over to Lightning's house ASAP" Lebreau repeated the message she was given.

"Right, yeah" Snow opened the message and read it carefully, confused for the most part but curious. It read

_i ot u ber om….. ex is har ow you gys o t is imss… uttons e so ttl.. ming to ghts se ee y en!_

and what followed were about a dozen or so smiley faces and other random keys and letters in what seemed to be shaped like things. He just couldn't tell what. After a second or two of trying to figure out what it said he gave up. He'd let Serah try to decode it later. She was much smarter when it came to things like this.

"You're going to Lightnings? I'm coming with you" Hope announced and got up to find his shoes.

Snow put his phone back down and watched Hope for a moment before it hit him. "No!" He jumped up suddenly. Hope and Lebreau watched him in confusion.

"Light's house? Serah went to tell Light she was…." Serah and him hadn't yet told anyone else yet. Serah wanted to make sure Light knew first.

"She was what?" Lebreau raised an eyebrow in question at his sudden hesitation to continue with what he was going to say.

"Going to invite her out for dinner" Snow tried to cover up best he could. He knew it was lame, but what else could he say. "I guess I'd better get there before they leave" He gave her a convincing smile. "Come on Hope" Snow quickly exited the room before she could speak again and question him more. If he knew one thing, it was that Lebreau was an excellent lie detector. Leaving and fast was the best option.

"I'm coming!" Hope hopped after him while trying to jam his shoe on his foot while walking. "Wait up!"


	3. Told

Snow's heart beat rapidly as he walked toward his almost sister in law's house. It was a short distance, usually only taking him five minutes at his usual pace. The speed of which he was now walking could be easily compared to a snail.

Hope however, had no issue with this. Usually it took a lot of effort to match the giants stride but for some reason he was going slower which ensured Hope didn't have to force himself to keep up. "Can I come out to dinner with you guys? I can pay for myself. Dad gave me a raise in my allowance so where ever we go I could even pay for all-"

Hope got cut short by Snow. "We're not going to dinner Hope" He kept his gaze directed ahead of him as he walked.

"Then why'd you tell Lebreau that?" Hope was beginning to get a little suspicious. He didn't know Snow was one to lie so easily to his friends. With that hero persona of his wouldn't it make him more noble and truthful?

"I had to lie" Snow said and stopped walking, causing Hope, who didn't yet notice to walk right into the back of him, stopping him short.

Snow didn't seem bothered that Hope walked into him and his expression looked almost desperate. Like there was something wrong. Something big going on.

"Serah's pregnant" He said and once it was out he visibly relaxed. A grin soon crossed his features not even a moment after. "That felt a lot better"

Hope's mouth hung open in disbelief. Didn't couples usually wait to get married before having kids? He didn't understand. He knew Snow wanted a big family from constantly hearing about it, but the wedding was only in a few months. Couldn't he have waited? Unless…

"I know what you're thinking and you're right. It was an accident. We we're planning on having a baby after the wedding but…. I suppose you can say fate decided we needed one now" He gave Hope one of his signature goofy grins. "It feels so good to finally tell someone!" Snow continued, placing one of his massive paw like hands on Hope's small head and ruffling his hair.

Hope ducked out from under his hand. He hated when he did that, it messed up his fluffy silver hair. He didn't want Lightning seeing him with messy hair. She might think he had slept in again, and she didn't like that one bit. "Won't Lightning kill you?"

"It's why Serah went to tell her alone. I wanted to go but it's almost guaranteed that she would have murdered me on the spot. Serah alone with her gave her some time to think and cool down. Hopefully enough not to hurt me too bad" He winced at the thought. The pair continued to amble slowly down the long road that occasionally curved. Light's house was pretty far out. She liked seclusion obviously. Passing the greater part of the residential area Snow watched as the kids all played in their front yards, laughing as they chased one another and occasionally fell down. He couldn't wait till his was here and able to smile and laugh and play. It seemed so far off considering Serah was only about 9 weeks along. That left 31 whole weeks till the baby would be ready to be born. Snow was almost certain he'd go wild with impatience.

There was a lot to do in the meantime though. He knew Serah was asking Light if they could move in. When it wasn't his first choice, seeing as he would have liked a little more privacy with Serah, she thought otherwise. If Serah left then Light would be all on her own in that big house, and even though the soldier was gone most of the time on missions, Serah figured she needed to be home. To get used to having a family, or else she'd become even more reclusive than she already was.

"Do you want a boy or girl?" Hope asked, trying to fill the silence. Deep down he hoped they would have a girl. While Snow and him got along, he honestly didn't want a miniature Snow running around yelling various things like Steelguard. The thought made him shudder. Hopefully Serah had more sense to teach the kid otherwise. He knew Light wouldn't stand for it. This was going to be one crazy family.

Snow grinned as he was broken from his long string of thoughts. "I don't know. I guess either's good. As long as they're healthy then I'm happy. Well even if they aren't…." The thought of having a special needs child never even crossed his mind till now, but if such thing was to happen, he knew he'd love them just the same.

"I hope you guys have a girl" Hope said openly, kicking a few pebbles as he walked.

"I'll let you in on a secret if you promise not to tell anyone" Snow said to Hope and the young boys eyes lit up. As far as things went now, Hope was in the handful of people who even knew about the baby and now he was being let in on secrets. He was on a roll today.

"If it's a girl Serah want's to name her Claire Jordyn. CJ for short. I came up with the nickname. Jordyn was my mom's name and we thought they sounded nice together. Of course ideas could change. Just promise not to tell Light" Snow explained.

"I won't" Hope grinned and felt a slight bounce in his step. What a cute name.

* * *

They were getting dangerously close to Light's house and no amount of walking slowly could help them at this point. Snow had to go in and face the music. As he got closer to the door he couldn't help but think. It wasn't Light's physical response he was afraid of. He's gotten hit by Lightning too many times in his life for it to bother him much now. He was more afraid of her emotional response. He felt like he'd just gotten her to accept him, to approve the wedding, and now this. This could have ruined everything and it would have been all his fault. If only him and Serah waited… No, no regrets now.

When Snow reached his hand out to turn the handle, it turned itself and opened slowly, revealing Serah. Snow instantly smiled the moment he saw her.

"I heard you on the stairs. Oh Hope? Hi, we weren't expecting you" Serah looked past Snow and saw Hope.

The boy smiled and rapidly tried to fix his hair before Lightning saw him. "I came with Snow if that's alright"

Serah gave Snow a confused look before he spoke. "I told him. I couldn't keep it in anymore. It's alright though, it's just Hope. He won't tell anyone"

Serah's expression went through a wave of emotions for a moment. She thought it was clear that the only one they would tell was Lightning for now. Then again Snow has had to keep it in for the past two weeks and it was even hard for Serah to keep it in. She couldn't be angry at either of them really. "It's alright. Hope's family now so he can know"

The response once again put a smile on Hope's face.

"Come in. Claire is sitting calmly for the most part in the livingroom. I don't know how she'll react though" Serah studied Snows features for a moment. As if this was her last glimpse at his perfect face before it would become shrouded in black and blue marks.

"It's going to be alright Serah. Remember what the doctor said? Not to get stressed" Snow walked in carefully, remembering to wipe his shoes on the doormat.

Hope bounced in and didn't bother, going straight to the kitchen to probably watch something on TV or raid the fridge. He had no place in the conversation they were about to have so he figured to take advantage of Lightning's appliances while she was distracted.

Serah crossed her arms over her chest. It's already too late for that. "Claire, he's here" She called out carefully. In a few short steps Snow was in the living room along with Serah.

Light sat with her arms firmly in her lap. Her expression tensed the moment she locked eyes with Snow. "You just couldn't wait could you?" Her voice laced with venom. Instead of jumping up to stab him or maim him she stayed still, muscles tensed, but no movement.

"Look, I know there's no excuse for us to not wait till after the wedding but… I guess all I can say is what's done is done and there's no taking it back. Not that any of us would want to" Snow explained calmly, taking his place without much hesitation. Lightning didn't scare him as much as she should have.

"How were we supposed to know that only after the second time of… you know" Her cheeks turned red and she looked down. "That I'd get pregnant" Serah said softly.

"Second time?!" Light snapped. "How many times Serah!?"

Serah's was as red as a tomato at this point. "Well a few…."

"I don't see how this is relevant" Snow added in, seeing how mortified Serah was. "So we had sex? Big deal Light, we're going to be married. Nobody waited till after the wedding anymore anyways. It's not like we didn't use protection. I'm not an idiot. It's just that well… We got the wrong size and it broke so… yeah now you know" He shrugged, no sign of embarrassment other than that he got the wrong size. It was an honest mistake though.

Lightning seemed to visibly calm down a fraction but not after shuddering at Snow's words. Wrong size? She might be sick. "I guess you're right. It's a part of life" She let out a sigh. "I just didn't think it would come so sudden" Light gritted her teeth as the innuendo hit her in the face. She wasn't good at talking about how she felt and her brain was screaming at her to hit him, but something deep down was preventing her.

Snow blinked a few times. Woah, she didn't hit me. "Yeah, we didn't think so either"

Serah sat down beside her sister, her normal color returning. "But it did. So we should be happy. You're going to have a niece or nephew" Serah smiled.

Lightning felt the color drain from her face. She would be an aunt. Aunt Lightning? Oh etro, she needed some water.


End file.
